Practitioner - One who stands for or acts on behalf of another. A patent attorney or patent agent may represent the inventors named in a patent application.

Prior Art - Any pre-existing knowledge, process, or product in the field or marketplace that can impact the validity (as to novelty or "obviousness") of a patent claim.

Restriction - If two or more independent and distinct inventions are claimed in a single application, the examiner may require the applicant to elect (designate) a single invention to which the claims will be restricted (limited to). This requirement is known as a requirement for restriction (also known as a requirement for division).

Scope - What is included; as in the scope of a patent claim.

Specification - A written description of the invention and the manner and process of making and using the same.

Substitute Patent Application - An application which is in essence a duplicate of a prior (earlier filed) application by the same applicant abandoned before the filing of the substitute (later filed) application; a substitute application does not obtain the benefit of the filing date of the prior application.

Term of Art - An expression or phrase that has a defined meaning when used in a particular context or knowledge environment (such as the patenting process, pharmaceuticals, computers, etc.).

Utility Patent Application - A patent application that can be used to protect useful processes, machines, articles of manufacture, and compositions of matter.

Utility Patent - May be granted to anyone who invents or discovers any new, useful, and nonobvious process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof.

Withdrawn Patent - An allowed application for patent in which the applicant files correspondence to withdraw the patent from issue; thus preventing it from issuing on the patent issue date.  The printed document is sometimes available on the day of publication, but is later retracted and will not be available in the patent database.